Utility computing is defined as the technology, tools, and processes that collectively deliver, monitor, and manage IT as a service to users. Among the potential benefits of adopting a utility computing model are increased control over IT costs, improved quality of IT service, and enhanced IT agility and flexibility.
Part 1 of this series outlined the four approaches to utility computing adoption. In Part 2 we'll look at areas of IT that have proven to be a successful starting point, evaluate IT consolidation in more depth, and discuss finding appropriate partners to help ease the move to this new model.
Where to Begin
The success of virtually any IT initiative begins with a good plan. And, every successful plan begins by identifying the most appropriate starting point. After all, IT implementation is rarely easy, and often the greatest challenge is simply knowing where to begin. This is especially true when considering adopting an IT utility model as its eventual success or failure depends in large part on what the organization tries to transform.
Perhaps one of the most common mistakes organizations make when evaluating utility computing targets is to overlook the role of people, processes, and service in their transformation efforts. Utility computing is not simply about technology.
At the same time, however, it is essential to find a well-defined and scoped area of IT whose transformation will provide maximum benefit and minimum risk. Such "low hanging fruit" not only promises to deliver the biggest bang for the buck but it also offers organizations the opportunity to leverage the new implementation as a pilot for possible future projects.
To find a good starting point, a number of factors should be considered. First, in general, the areas most suitable to a utility computing model are those where the consumer of the service cares less about how the service is delivered and more about why, when, and how much service they receive. In other words, quality of service is a greater priority than the specifics of the technology enablement. Often, these areas include enterprise data protection, disaster recovery enablement, enterprise storage, and server management.
Second, it is better to keep the initial scope of the transformation to this new utility model as small as possible. This enables the organization to focus on delivering a truly effective service -- one whose business benefits are easily discerned.
Third, regardless of the motivation behind a utility computing project, it is critical that the target of the initial transformation achieves its business objectives. The business case must be compelling, and business goals must be identified, achieved, and documented.
Finally, once the target of the transformation has been determined, the support of executive sponsors must be attained. Earning the endorsement of one or several senior executives up front makes the cultural changes that will likely occur down the road much easier to understand and address.
Consolidation
An IT consolidation initiative is often an ideal place to introduce a utility computing strategy. In fact, many of the same drivers that compel IT consolidation are common drivers for utility computing.
For example, organizations often look at utility computing as a way to address the under-utilization of IT assets, duplications in application functionality, lack of standards, and complexity of IT architectures. Utility computing is also often seen as a tool for controlling IT asset growth, improving data-sharing capabilities, and reducing the number or size of data centers.
The same can be said of the potential merits of IT consolidation, of which there are three basic types. Application consolidation reduces the number of applications in an environment. Logical application infrastructure consolidation reduces hardware asset requirements by enabling multiple applications to share hardware resources. Physical infrastructure consolidation also reduces the amount of hardware assets, but does so by resizing it in order to make it more closely meet real application requirements.
Regardless of consolidation type, such a project must include clear and concise business objectives in order to ensure that consolidation accomplishes what it set out to do.
Utility computing can help with IT consolidation by introducing an IT service design and utility computing principle known as "class of service." This type of model enables organizations to create fixed and well-defined classes or categories of IT services. These clearly defined levels of service can then be incorporated as part of a service level agreement (SLA). Because the first requirement of this model is to articulate just what the service will provide, it differs from how IT infrastructures have traditionally been designed.
Nevertheless, a class of service design can help organizations right-size their IT infrastructures, accelerate time to market, establish stringent and well-controlled IT standards, and implement more hierarchical IT infrastructures. Moreover, this approach can greatly improve the scalability of an organization as the IT architecture is tiered to enable applications to make better use of relevant IT assets and standards.
The Right Partner
Successful IT projects do not happen in a vacuum, and adopting a utility computing model is no different. After all, utility computing is about delivering the right service at the right time in the right amount to the right people.
Delivering IT as a service impacts the entire organization. Consequently, organizational change will almost certainly be required and a range of different skills needed, from product specialists to business analysts and customer relationship management. They may be found in-house or through third parties.
Resistance to change is to be expected and anticipated, most often in response to organizational changes. This underscores the importance of selecting the right service for the initial rollout. Unless stakeholders and key influencers understand the business objectives behind a utility computing project and, in turn, see those objectives met quickly and efficiently their support for future implementations will likely be much more difficult to earn.
Likewise, key stakeholders must be able to articulate what they want by transforming an area of IT into a service, and have an opportunity to follow up by identifying areas of improvement that will, if addressed, ensure the success of other, later services.
Organizations must also determine whether they want a single supplier or several suppliers. While having just one supplier makes short work of figuring out who to go to should things fall apart, leveraging a team of suppliers is often necessary in order to provide the hardware, software, and skills needed to manage the transformation to a utility computing model.
Conclusion
Clearly, implementing IT as a service is much easier said than done. It requires serious preparation and preliminary effort as organizations pinpoint the areas of IT considered low hanging fruit and virtually certain success stories. Selecting the appropriate partner is also essential to the success of a utility computing initiative. Once these issues are addressed, organizations can often leverage IT consolidation as a starting point for delivering IT as a service and reap significant benefits as a result, including improved scalability.
The ideas expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of ITworld.com.
